It's not news to anyone that nearly all romantic relationships in mainstream tv shows, movies and even books, have pretty creepy beginnings and are really unhealthy.

Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, nearly all teen fics, etc. There are examples of toxic relationships literally littered everywhere. Sometimes they're romanticized to the point where people see the creepy shit as "cute". I know Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey are the obvious examples but news flash: Gus from the fault in our stars suffers from the manic pixie dream boy syndrome and can't take no for an answer. Alaska is a manipulative, self-absorbed fuck who's inconsiderate about her friends' feelings and shamelessly uses them.

Anyway, that's a completely different rant. My point is, there are certainly a lot of healthy underrated relationships that are so well written and complex. And people should appreciate them more.

Here are some of my faves.

(Note: I'm writing this at 2 AM so I won't be proofreading. Good grammar is for noobs rn)

1. Jake and Amy from Brooklyn Nine Nine

Literally, every aspect of their relationship is goals. I'm going to go as far to say that it's the healthiest relationship I've seen on TV.

They were good friends with playful competitiveness from the beginning and how their relationship escalates to romance is so dhsusgsushahshshshsh. They have so much respect for each other and what's important to them. Their communication is perfect and they always bring out the best in each other.

There's this part in Season 2 where Jake is filling in for the captain and after screwing up, he's ready to give up and let Amy take over. And despite how much she loves being in charge, she boosts Jake's confidence and convinces him to give it another shot, to stop listening to what the people want and do what he thinks is right.

Then, in season 4, Jake's so supportive of Amy taking the Sergeant Exam, quelling her doubts about how her promotion could affect their relationship.

Like sure, these two do have conflicts but they're pretty realistic and not the over-the-top dramatic ones in most tv shows that are based on dumbass misunderstandings.

They're the perfect example of the opposites attract trope when it's done right.

2. Sara and Ava from Legends of Tomorrow

So the start to their relationship was kinda rocky but honestly, even then they had such great chemistry and I've always shipped them.

The pace at which their relationship progresses is perfect, especially for a superhero TV show and it's surprising how realistically it's portrayed.

Their first date was kinda awkward and I lost it when they pulled out chairs for each other at the same time.

Once they actually get together, they're so supportive, honest and trusting of each other. They do take a break when Ava's unsettling origin story comes to light but once she comes to terms with that and Sara reassures her that where she came from doesn't change her feelings for her or who she is in any way, they're back together. They're basically each other's support systems and I love how they keep uplifting each other no matter what.

Plus, their relationship fuels their character development and they both get storylines outside of their romance.

One thing I don't like about superhero shows/movies is that once the protagonist gets together with their love interest, it's just reduced to that. Their love interest loses all personality and characterization, serving as a mere plot device.

So Ava and Sara having conflicts and storylines outside of their relationship is pretty cool.

Basically, it's the enemies to friends to lovers trope but done perfectly.

They're just so cute, I cri.

3. Jane and Michael from Jane the Virgin

I'm always going to be on Team Michael because he makes Jane so happy. He's always respected her boundaries and has no problem with the fact that she wants to stay a virgin till marriage. His feelings for her don't change a bit even when she gets accidentally inseminated and decides to keep another man's baby. They have great communication, so much chemistry and they make each other feel so happy that you can feel the love radiating off the screen. They're both exactly what they want and need.

4. Alex and Maggie from Supergirl

They didn't have a very great start and I was kind of expecting a slow burn but I'm happy with what we got. Like Maggie was kinda closed off and not really characterized for a few episodes but we later get to learn why and she and Alex just make each other so happy. It's her that encourages Alex to come out to Kara and her mom.

They were both absolute badasses with so much emotional honesty and understanding. If I'm being real, their relationship was so much healthier than Kara and Mon-El's as they respected each other from the start.

Also, as much as their breakup crushed me, I really appreciate how they ended things. It wasn't because of drama, a fight or something the other person did. They both acknowledged that they wanted different things in life and ended it.

I know the chances are pretty low but I really hope Maggie makes a comeback in a future season.

5. Starr and Chris from The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Bear in mind, I'm talking about the book, not the movie. I think the movie was absolute garbage and didn't do justice to their relationship or any of the central themes of the book.

Now, their relationship didn't exactly start out very healthy but did develop into that by the end. At the beginning of the book, Starr is mad at Chris for overstepping a boundary i.e nearly having sex with her.

They do resolve that but things still don't look great for them. Starr witnesses her old friend getting shot and copes with a lot of traumatic things without sharing them with him.

Now, I don't think this part is unhealthy. You don't have to share everything with your s/o, especially when you're not ready. Starr definitely does have a lot of support from her family so it's not like she needs Chris's too.

She doesn't want Chris to know because she considers him the only normal part of her life and feels like that will change too if he knows about what she's been through.

It's pretty cool how comfortable she is around him. She exhibits all parts of her personality and has no fear of his judgement. At Garden Heights and her high school, Starr conceals parts of her identity so doesn't come across as too white to the people in her neighborhood or ghetto to her friends. She censors what she says because she doesn't want to be seen as a stereotype but she doesn't have to think about any of that with Chris.

In one of the last chapters, Starr finally shares all the things she's been through. At first, he's a bit hurt (because that's natural, who wouldn't be hurt if they found out their s/o is keeping so much from them?) but then as soon as he recovers from that, he's so supportive and understands that he can't exactly get Starr's experiences but he tries. He listens to her and understands that even though he can say stuff like he doesn't see race, those things do affect Starr on a daily basis. I hate how shittily they handled this part in the movie.

Now before this turns into a rant about the movie and how the book was so much better, I'll just say Starr and Chris have a pretty good and healthy relationship and end it at that.
They did have communication issues in the beginning but they resolved them.